


Short works from prompts

by Alien_Duck



Category: My Time At Portia (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, implied injury/disfigurement, mentions of death in chapter 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-23
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23809651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alien_Duck/pseuds/Alien_Duck
Summary: There's a blog on tumblr posting prompts for writing or drawing, and some of the prompts have made me think. So since I can't work on any of my bigger fics right now, I figured I could take a shot at some of them!Each chapter will be a different prompt, and I doubt any of them will link together but I'll add a note if they end up connected.Characters and tags updated as I go
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Alice and Jack on their way to Portia

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt blog - https://mtap-prompts.tumblr.com/

Jack carefully slipped off his seat and turned so he could climb back up on his knees, leaning his arms on the backrest so he could watch the scenery fly by through the bus’s window. They were finally far away enough from Atara that the neatly boxed off fields of boring coloured food crops had given way to wilderness, and it was breathtaking.

Giant fields of flowers in every colour imaginable filled his vision, stretching back as far as he could see and almost blinding him with how bright they all seemed. Reds, blues, yellows, and browns blurred together before him. And green. There was so, so much green! More than he’d ever seen before, maybe. At least since before...

He shut the thought away as he settled his cheek on his folded arms, watching a bird further back take off and fly up into the sky. Maybe he should wake Alice up. He was sure she’d love to see all the colour after the last few weeks. He’d seen how she’d perked up every time she’d seen something living amongst the dusty houses covered in soot back in Lucien, or hidden between the cramped together apartments with washing hanging from windows of Atara. How she’d stopped to stare longingly at the potted plants in the bland waiting rooms in depressing office buildings they’d visited to fill in the paperwork needed to get on this bus.

A soft snuffle next to him had him turning towards his sister even before he thought about it, but it was ok. She was still asleep. He carefully reached over and pulled the coat she was using as a blanket higher up her shoulder, smoothing a strand of hair from her face to tuck behind her ear as she muttered again. The little wrinkle between her eyebrows was back, and he could see the dark smudges under her eyes that had been there since… since they'd left Lucien, looked even worse without her glasses in the way. 

No. He’d let her sleep. She really needed it. She’d needed to rest for a while now, he knew, no matter what she told him. And besides, he told himself, settling down again and breathing slowly to enjoy the clean fresh air. Alice said this place they were going, Portia, was somewhere to the south. Next to the sea! And it had fields, and trees, and lots of space to run around in, and safe places for him to explore. And best of all, it was far, far away from Duvos, and all the problems they were causing.

She could see all the pretty flowers when they got there.

He’d make sure of it!


	2. Behind the mask

He pulled the last bandage free and stared at the reflection in the mirror, not quite believing what he saw. Intellectually, he knew it wasn’t _so_ bad. Not as bad as it could have been at any rate. Not as bad as he’d seen it go for others. But it was still bad enough. Especially for him, since he’d relied so heavily on his looks until now.

Maybe, maybe he could learn how to use make up or body paint, to cover it up. Make him look like he had before. If he got good enough, it might not be all that noticeable to anyone who hadn’t known him before, if he were lucky..?

But then, that would be expensive. And with the amount of time he spent on the road carrying his heavy bag of goods working up a sweat, he’d probably end up needing to reapply several times a day, even on days when it _wasn’t_ hot, or muggy, or raining.

No. No the doctor had been right, even if she could have been nicer about it. He looked down at what he was holding, his fingers steadily moving across the strange white mask. A panda, she had said, as if he was meant to know what one of those was. It was thin, but light and sturdy under his fingers, made of some material he couldn’t immediately identify. 

And slightly too small he noted as he held it up to his face so the eye holes lined up, looking at his new reflection. Though that might be something of a blessing he realised as his breath bounced back onto his face, but not as much as he would have otherwise expected. Most of it must have slipped out the bottom or side. Maybe he could alter it a little, add some air holes, or a barrier across so his whole face wouldn’t heat up.

But at least it covered what he needed it to.

He slipped the ties over his ears, and stared at the result. It was strange, and would take getting used to, he supposed.

But it was already a lot better than looking at what was behind it. The now permanent reminder of his arrogance, and his mistake.


	3. Warm drinks while stargazing

Alice carefully poured red tea into the small cup and pushed it across the stone they were sat on to Jack, pulling the empty one closer to fill for herself. He hummed happily as he lifted it to his lips to start blowing, the small wisps of steam curling in the air around his face.

She loved nights like this. No school tomorrow for Jack to get up early for, and she had saved enough of a buffer that she could afford to open the shop an hour or two late. Meaning they had all the time in the world to sit up here by the Church of the Light and look at the stars and make their own patterns and stories. 

Just like they did with their parents on their home’s roof all those years ago in Lucien.

She wrapped her hands around the cup and lifted it to her lips, sipping as Jack started to talk, pointing out stars and shapes and spinning a story she remembered being one of their father’s favourites.

She’d always hated how she couldn’t give him much in the way of things. But seeing how his face was lit up and he was talking with such excitement, she was incredibly glad that she  _ could _ give him this at least.


	4. The Bandirat Queen

First, they killed her mother. Not these humans in town, no. But the ones who had come before. The ones who had built this large, crumbling building they’d been forced to live in for the meagre shelter it gave from the elements. The ones who left such dangerous liquids out in the open, allowed them to mix and fester, and create harmful gas that left her people gasping for air until they gasped no more.

Her father had made sure to teach them all from a very young age that it wasn’t _these_ humans in the town that had built the building. And hopefully, if they didn’t go near _these_ humans, then they wouldn’t come near them, and their people could live in peace.

But then they killed her brother.

Her poor brother, who’d gone scouting for a new place for their overcrowded subjects to move to. Somewhere away from the stink and the sludge and the rusted metal pipes that caused such terrible injuries. Somewhere where their children wouldn’t be constantly sick, and weak. Somewhere with clean water, and plentiful food.

And then, then they killed her father. They’d barged into her own home after her father retaliated against their mindless cruelty. After he’d tried to teach them how their actions would have consequences. They’d barged in and slaughtered their guards, her friends, as if they were nothing more than bags of food to be opened. They’d walked through her home, breaking boxes and stealing supplies like they had every right to do so, until they walked right up to her father, still trying to explain to them his grief over the loss of her brother, and they…

She’d seen it all from her perch high above the arena, her maids trying to pull her back into the pipes. But she couldn’t look away. Not as he fought. Not as he fell. Not as the two humans left, laughing and joking and shoving at each other

As if they hadn’t just declared war on her and her people.

As if they weren’t as bad as all the humans who had gone before.

As if the Bandirat Queen wouldn’t now make them **_pay_**.


End file.
